Business briefs

Skybus increases fees for baggage, boarding

Rising fuel costs have led discount airline Skybus to increase its checked baggage and priority boarding fees, the company announced Friday.

Effective Tuesday, checking a bag will cost $12 instead of $5, but customers will get a discount option to check bags online for $10. The company also announced the fee for priority boarding will rise from $10 to $12.50 in early March.

The Columbus, Ohio-based airline, which flies to three locations from St. Augustine, offers a service that keeps airfare low by charging extra for baggage, priority boarding and concessions. Airfare starts at $10 for a one-way ticket.

In a prepared statement, Skybus CEO Bill Diffenderffer said fuel costs led to the increases. He maintains that the increases are smaller than those recently announced for airlines offering similar service.

David Hunt/ The Times-Union

Most Wilsons Leather mall stores to close

Wilsons The Leather Experts Inc., which has two stores in Jacksonville, will close the majority of its 260 mall locations and cut more than 1,000 jobs, the Associated Press reported Friday.

The company said it will keep 100 stores open, revamping them under a "studio" concept focused on fashion accessories for women, AP reported. All stores should be remodeled by August.

Five telephone calls to the corporate headquarters in Brooklyn Park, Minn., were not returned. An employee who answered the phone at Jacksonville's Regency Square store said it would be closing. An employee at The Avenues mall location said she was not allowed to comment.

Carole Fader/ The Times-Union

Panhandle airport ruling helps St. Joe Co.

A federal court ruling allows construction to continue for a Panhandle airport expected to help Jacksonville-based St. Joe Co. in the region.

The company announced Friday that a judge allowed Panama City-Bay County International Airport construction to continue, but set a final hearing on the matter for March 10. The airport is being built on a 4,000-acre site in northwestern Bay County that had been donated by St. Joe.

Environmental groups and nearby residents have opposed the construction for years.

In a statement, St. Joe Chairman and CEO Peter S. Rummell said efforts to halt the project for good appear to be dwindling. He said the new airport would boost transportation service and help develop the economy.

The airport would anchor a 75,000-acre industrial, commercial and residential development that would include a 40,000-acre preservation area.

David Hunt/ The Times-Union

Wal-Mart chooses Blu-ray over HD DVDs

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has picked Blu-ray over HD DVD in the market battle for the format of high-definition video.

The nation's largest retailer said Friday it has decided to sell only Blu-ray DVDs and hardware and no longer carry rival HD DVD offerings.

The announcement comes five days after Netflix Inc. said it will cease carrying rentals in Toshiba Corp.'s HD DVD format and instead go exclusively with the rival Sony Corp. technology favored by five major movie studios.

Toshiba and Sony have been vying to set the standard for high-definition DVDs and players.

Several large retailers have come down on Blu-ray's side, including Target Corp. and Blockbuster Inc.